Video data is often captured by using multiple video cameras to produce a stereoscopic output. Particularly, video data is often captured using at least two cameras, one for the left frame and one for the right frame. In other embodiments, video data may also be captured via a stereo video camera having two sensors, one sensor for the left eye and one for the right eye. In this embodiment, both sensors may be configured to capture video with the left and right lenses separated by a fixed or variable amount of space between the lenses. Post-production equipment may be used to synchronize together the left and right frames or sensors, from multiple cameras or from a single camera, in order to create stereo video.
The synchronization of the left and right frames or sensors of the video data is a technique known as genlocking. The genlock technique is a method for synchronizing a video source with a specific reference signal or for synchronizing multiple video sources together (e.g., a set of video cameras synchronized to a common clock signal). The general objective of the genlock technique is to establish the coincidence of the signals in time at a combining point for the video sources. Particularly, the reference signal provides a reference clock signal for the video sources by phase locking the video sources to the reference video synchronization data of the reference video signal. In a general application of this technique, genlocking may be used to synchronize as few as two isolated video sources so that both sources reference a common clock signal. Nevertheless, the genlock technique may be employed for either stereoscopic or non-stereoscopic output. For example, in one embodiment, the genlock technique may be employed to synchronize multiple non-stereo video cameras of participants to a video conference. In another embodiment, the genlock technique may be employed to synchronize multiple stereo video cameras for capturing and broadcasting video footage of a sporting event.